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Walk behind small tree harvester?

Started by bearlakehockey, March 28, 2010, 10:17:17 PM

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bearlakehockey

Is there tracked or wheeled walk behind machine to cut 4-6 inch diameter trees?  Like a brush hog that would cut the tree , but not plow it over and grind it up. 

Bobus2003

Doesn't Dr. Trimmer make a small walk behind tree cutter?

stonebroke

You can get a beaver blade for a DR trimmer but I think four inches would be pushing it.

Stonebroke

DirtForester

Can I get that in a cut-to-length model?   ;D
If it's a good tree, grow it!
www.smithandwessonforums.com

stonebroke

Yep, Cut to one length. Tree length :D :D :D :D :D

Stonebroke

DirtForester

If it's a good tree, grow it!
www.smithandwessonforums.com

pbunyan

I have a DR trimmer with beaver blade attachment.There used to be two sizes 14 and 12
inch.I have the 14 inch.I only used it once and it cut better than I thought it would but I
didn't cut to its full capacity. which would be may be 4 ".The blade has chain saw chain
embedded in the rim and cuts like a chain saw.when dull you use a chain saw file to sharpen
it.There seems to be plenty of power.I have chainsaws so I use it to cut brush around the
yard.It really saves the back on the smaller stuff.


SwampDonkey

A professional model brush saw, seems to me would be more productive. Cutting a 6"'er is doable, I've cut pin cherry 8" or 9", have to come from a  couple sides and maintain sharp blades. That big stuff can be hard on gears and drive shaft, but for the homeowner type jobs, nothing to it. How much you cutting? Remember, sharp blades. Just don't pull on the handle bars like a gunner shooting down a Kamikaze, use the harness to help free the blade if it gets pinched or you'll break handle bars and bar elbows. ;D

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

VT_Forestry

I'll second what SwampDonkey said...a handheld brushcutter with a sharp blade will quickly drop a 7-9" tree if you come at it from two sides.  Good luck  :)
Forester - Newport News Waterworks

SwampDonkey

Plus, there is an art to following that bigger stuff as well. Just work opposite of the way she wants to fall to reduce pinch. Helps to clear a path to drop it into. You'll catch on. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Gary_C

Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 26, 2010, 04:17:56 AM
A professional model brush saw, seems to me would be more productive. Cutting a 6"'er is doable, I've cut pin cherry 8" or 9", have to come from a  couple sides and maintain sharp blades.

Can you do directional felling too?  ;D

Do you carry the brush saw on your escape path or just save yourself?  :D
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

SwampDonkey

A job for a professional I guess.  :D ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Raider Bill

What's one of those brush cutters run price wise?
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

SwampDonkey

Well an Echo is $1000 and a Stihl around $1300, the upper end models. $CDN

Echo now makes the biggest one HP wise, but it's not that big a difference. I hate the throttle cable on the Echo, poor design, not protected well enough from hooking into brush and ripping it out of the housing. Other than that, make sure you adjust the carb when you bring it home.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Raider Bill

I've been thinking of a DR walk behind brush cutter. Maybe have to rethink that.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Woulde

I've been looking for a brush cutter to clear trees up to 4".  Need to cut 3 or 4 acres.  I'll leave the big trees for the pros.  From reading this forum, it seems to me the Stihl brand is top of the line.  But which model?  A dealer suggested a 130 model, but he didn't seem real sure.  If I need to spend $1,000 I'll do it, but just can't pull the trigger.  Any suggestions?  BTW, what's the difference between a brush cutter and clearing saw?  FWIW, I'm just a layman, not a "pro".

SwampDonkey

As far as the clearing saw, FS450,500,550. We buy the FS550 here for pre-commercial thinning, their top model. Husky makes an equivalent saw. Most fellows on the crew use them because of the dealer. The Stihl is easier to work on from what I see out there. The brush cutter they are talking about is a walk behind machine that looks like a big mower. They advertised them on TV quite hard in the 90's around here. I doubt they would mow much 4" stuff, maybe 1"-2". But maybe they have a larger class than I've seen. I bet the clearing saw is cheaper and more productive.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Raider Bill

One of my concerns is length of the saw. I'm 6'4" I hate to work bent over. Makes for a long day.

This is DR's product

http://www.drpower.com/field-brush-mower.aspx

Big differance in price between SwampDonkeys cutter and this.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

VT_Forestry

I run an FS450 on a regular basis doing pre-commercial thinning (not nearly as much as SD but enough  :D ).  IIRC they are in the $900-$1000 range.  A 4" tree is nothing to one of these things, zips right through them :)  I have some videos that I've taken that I'll try to get up on YouTube.  We have the full-length saw, I'm 6'2" and with the harness adjusted properly I'm not bending over at all.  My own personal opinion is this:  for clearing small trees I would much rather use the Stihl as opposed to something on wheels like a DR.  It's very versatile and easy to get around with, you can step over trees and not have to worry about driving over them.  Seems like it would be a whole lot more productive to run a clearing saw...but hey, that's just my opinion :)
Forester - Newport News Waterworks

Woulde

The FS130 the dealer recommended is called a trimmer in their spring 2010 full line limited catalog.  He suggested swapping out the trimmer head for the saw blade.  They're a lot cheaper, but I don't want cheap, I want the right tool. 

Just by looking at specs on the Stihl web site I'm between the 350 and 450.   

Also, what blade to use?  I'm guessing the chisel tooth.  I don't have much brush, primarily trees and saplings.  Area to be cleared on sloped ground if that matters.

BTW, Stihl seems to use the term brush cutter and cutting saw interchangeably.


stonebroke

The problem with the field and brush mower is it will only do 2 or 2 and a half inch stuff. the beaver blade fits on the trimmer.

Stonebroke

SwampDonkey

9" Chisel Tooth, make sure it's Swede steel and not Asian steel, says on box. Stays sharp longer. And make sure you walk out with the right cut out size in the blade, the upper saws use a small cut out 500/550, not sure on the lower saws. The smaller Husky for instance has a larger hole, but the old bigger Husky they just stopped making a couple years back has a small hole. Maybe VT_For can tell ya the cut out size on the 450, or just check in parts lookup at the dealer.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

VT_Forestry

Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 26, 2010, 08:56:56 PM
9" Chisel Tooth, make sure it's Swede steel and not Asian steel, says on box. Stays sharp longer.  Maybe VT_For can tell ya the cut out size on the 450, or just check in parts lookup at the dealer.

I wanna say that the center hole is 20mm, but I'm not 100% on that.  I'll check tomorrow at work. 
Forester - Newport News Waterworks

John Mc

DR's biggest walk-behind brush mower is the 17 HP Pro-XL. It weighs over 350 pounds. It's supposedly rated for up to 3" saplings. I'm not sure how well it handles something that big, since you have to be able to push it over to mow it. I don't think these are intended to replace a clearing saw... they're more a substitute for a tractor with a brush mower for someone who can't justify the expense of a tractor, or for someone who needs to get into places that a tractor can't/shouldn't go.

(To me one of the interesting things about the DR units is that you can swap the brushcutter head for a lawnmower, generator, snow-blower. Only one engine to maintain for a variety of uses.)

I have an old Jonsered GR 2036, which they called a "brushcutter", and said it was "OK" for clearing saw use. I use it with a chisel-tooth blade. It works well on smaller saplings. I've done 3", but it's really not all that efficient on stuff that big. Generally, if I get many above 2", my "walk behind small tree harvester" is my chainsaw.

If I were doing a lot of this, I'd upgrade to a bigger model.

John Mc
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

Raider Bill

I've got a tractor with 6' brush hog but as you say it just won't fit in some places.
Vines, saplings and briars are what I'm wanting to clean up.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

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